Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1887-02-16

! tncfc were, tnlfiy years Sncc. some
very expert bear-huntcrs who knew
every foot OF ground among the sand
stone ridges to the westward OF Abs
valley, and who kept packs of dogs
trained TO the sport. Among these
were Harrison, brewster, and Pccry,
land owners born and bred in the place,
familiar with the ha'its OF the animal,
and knowing every patch of nut-bcar-
ing woodland on the Tug fork and its
branches, for ut that time there were
only rare visits of the animal to the
limestone waters of The Clrch 1t was
too thickly settled for his taste. Oh
| these three, the former was retired
when knew him, though he had been
famous in his day. Brewster was the
best of them all, but he was getting old.
Major Thomas Peery. known as the
bear warden of the county, a bluff and
hearty gentleman, best described by
the ep:thet whole. souicd,' was still
vigorous, though past midde-age, and
introduced me to the mysteries of bear
craft. just now remember one of our
expeditions which was impromptu and
with no striking incident, except that
| the bear undertook to hunt us, which
might have been an unpleasant reversal
of the order of things.
| l had gone over to Tug looking for
deer, and bad with me a rifle and a
heavy bowie-knifc. The rifle was short,
unlike those of the vicinage, which
were. stock in all, quite six feet in length.
The hunters all laughed at my pop-gun,
and were quite aslonishcd when they
found it did good work. Then used
picket balls, while they had the old
round bullets with CREASED patch.
just as passed Abs valley, and was
on the Jump, l met Major Peery, who
had probably been looking after cattle
When he learned where | was bound he
proposed, as he had three of his dogs
along, to turn back, and we might scare
| up a bear. He had no knife with him,
but lent him mine, which was good
weapon, though larger than he was used
| to. We rode on together, the dogs
keeping ahead and nOsing their way,
| but giving no tongue. Presently we
came to a gap. Mast scarce here, "
said the Major, "but the beech is plenty
in that branch below. Let's go down.
Down we rode, making our own horse
| path to the narrow valley, which was
partly beach-bottom and partly laurel
rough. The dogs scented nothing, and
after three hours wandering we hitched
our horses to a swinging limb near a
spring and sat down to discuss the con-
tents of one of my saddle-bags, for l
had brought along some fine boiled
bacon and roasted chicken-not such
bad hunters fare, after all. We were
in the midst of it when the dogs barked
and bristled their hair, the horses began
to plunge and kick furiously, there was
q growl very distinctly uttered, and
down upon us, with great impudence
and show of teeth, plunged three
ycar-old he-bear, none too fat for rapid
motion. He checked himself at sight
of the dogs, who went for him in a
hurry. The Major drew his bowie
knife as he sprang to his legs and l
graspcd my rifle.
don't shootr' cried the Major, as
the bear and dogs began lively circus
business. They danced in and out, the
elder dogs taking him in flank, and the
younger one charging in front. A wipe
from bruins right paw just grazed the
youngster, and sent him bowling, but
more scared than hurt, to our rear. Thc
others would nip him, let go and bark,
first one and then the other, so that our
black-coated foe was kept too busy to
pay any attention to Us. l was highly
excited, but the Major was as cool as
could be, waiting chance to sail in.
''Sec here DOCTOR" he said to me, "you
may do mischief. Don't even cock
your gun till tell you" IL can hit
him" | said. IF YOU must shoot a
dog" he returned, grimly, "try your
hand on that whimpering pup there. p"
This cooled me of, and | became a
passive spectator.
The bear, meanwhile, was retreating
sidewisc rs well as lighting, and got
himself into little hollow, studded with
rhododendron roots and branches, near
mass of rock about ten feet high-a
sort of natural pillar; and against this,
with good gcneralship, he set his back
Neither the dog nor the Major could get
to his rear. The dogs kept charging
and barking, but rarely got chance
for nip. The bears arms were too
lively, and we two looked on like poor
boys at Il frolic. Occasionally, when
his enemies were too troublesome, bruin
would charge forward, but never got
more than foot or two from the rock.
proposed to circle around, climb the
rock, and stone the bear; but the Major
was a afraid l would wound tho dogs.
Have patience, said he, ''the brute
will make break" But he didn't.
The fight, such as it was, kept up for a
long while, until all parties were ex-
haustcd. Bruin and the dogs sat down
on their launches, perfectly tired out,
painting, and with their tongues lolling
from their mouths.
81 can kill him now," said, with
out risk to the dogs"
Every WELL" said Perry. ''take him
in the eye"
Better lower" was my reply, though
aimed at the eye. was within twelve
feet, and could plum center, as they
say, at ten times the distance. / drew
fine bead on the bears eye and pulled
trigger. The ball hit him, but it went
wide of the mark a foot or more. The
animal gave a cry, so human, so wall
ing, so like lost soul in agony, that it
thrilled through me and made me feel
like an assassin. He gave a convulsive
movement of the shoulders and arms
and fell forward. l had missed my
mark, but my ball entering below, as l
found afterward, had cut the aorta. /
loaded again, but a second ball was not
needed. 1t had been bad shot by me,
but fatal one for the bear"
Your way was better than mine, "
said Peery. "You hit him in the right
place"
"Can you keep secret, MajorP"
~ reckon"
"Wcll-don't expose me. l aimed at
the eye, and missed it by several
inches"
And may say here that the head is a
poor mark, for the skulls of some OF
them old he-bears are so thick as to
stop any thing but steel-pointed,
peaked ball. A man near Ceyoming
courthouse, knowing / was collecting
crania, once brought me skull of an
old bear that he had killed while the
| animal was in n tran He showed me